And most of what was described in the Bible as leprosy was probably
something else.
Cathy
On Tuesday, November 16, 2004, at 11:08 PM, Judy L Browning wrote:

Leprosy is now called Hanson's disease in research, etc. There is
treatment
to clear the bacteria from the body. I heard an interesting reference
to it
a few days ago. Seems the rotting flesh, loss of body parts etc.
associated
with the disease is not directly caused by the bacteria. Loss of pain
sensation from nerve damage is the real culprit. Without pain to let
the
person know they have a cut or even a broken bone, the damaged area
easily
becomes infected and that secondary infection is the cause of the
terrible
disfiguring that caused such horror of the disease.
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Franzman" <dfranzma@pacbell.net>
To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 8:33 PM
Subject: Re: [CHAT] Armadillos/leprosy

Thanks for that clarification Cathy but it leads me to another
question
about leprosy. We know of the leper colonies of Hawaii...I think it
was
Molokai...but we never hear of the disease anymore at least I don't.
Is

Just had to set the record straight on armadillos and leprosy. Yes,
armadillos, because of their low body temperature, have been used to
culture Mycobacterium leprae (Leprosy is caused by a bacterium,
related

to

the bacteria that causes tuberculosis, not a virus). Because the

bacterium

has not been able to be grown in artificial culture, the sole
source of
the germ for study has been the nine banded armadillo (and mice).
Yes
there has been a lot of "buzz" on the possible transmission of the
bacterium from the armadillo to humans, but to my knowledge, the
only
documented transmission has been related to oral consumption of
undercooked armadillo meat. Leprosy, despite its horrendous biblical
reputation (most of which was not related to the disease), is very
difficult to contract. There is documented evidence that people have

lived

for years in close proximity (ie. marriage) to people with the
disease

and

have never "caught" it. The lowly nine banded armadillo should be
recipient of our gratitude rather than our prejudice...at least as
far

as

health research is concerned.
Cathy
On Tuesday, November 16, 2004, at 09:35 AM, Jesse Bell wrote:

I truly do not like armadillos. Did you know they carry the leprosy
virus? And they do jump...and squeak...and they don't see well at
night
(that's why you see so many dead ones on the road). When I chased
one
with a broom (in New Orleans) and yelled at it...it jumped up and
came
running after me. I screamed and ran. Ick. Hate 'em. The short one
is
braver than me..that's for sure.